Jun 9, 2014

07:33 PM

Connecticut Transportation Commissioner James Redeker, left, gives Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, foreground right, two thumbs up after a news conference at MTA headquarters, in New York June 9, 2014. Metro-North president Joseph Giulietti, is second left, and MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast is at right. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The 118-year-old Walk Bridge in Norwalk will be given detailed inspections to determine how it failed and the state has requested $349 million to replace it, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said at a press conference after a “summit” with MTA, Metro-North and state officials in New York.

The bridge, which swings 90 degrees to let boats go by, was dropped as a project by the Department of Transportation in 2008, Malloy said.

“They dropped the project because they didn’t know how to pay for it,” Malloy said. He said he put it back as an active project when he took office in 2011.

His administration has requested $349 million from Congress, which would pay for 75 percent of the work to replace the bridge with a two-panel bascule bridge.

“Every time this 118-year-old bridge fails to close properly, our customers suffer the consequences of decades of delay and neglect,” said Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Thomas Prendergast. “We are working closely with our partners in Connecticut to support their efforts to make temporary repairs to keep this bridge operating while they pursue federal funding to replace it with a modern bridge.”

In response to a question, Malloy said the state has not used transportation money for general budget items and has increased overall transportation funding 65 percent over what it was when he took office.

But Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, who serves on the Transportation Committee, said Malloy has taken $184 million from a transportation fund since he took office.